Why Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is a Great Dividend Stock Right Now

Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

Johnson & Johnson in Focus

Headquartered in New Brunswick, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is a Medical stock that has seen a price change of -15.57% so far this year. The world's biggest maker of health care products is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.95 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.09%. This compares to the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry's yield of 3.57% and the S&P 500's yield of 2.41%.

Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $3.80 is up 1.3% from last year. Johnson & Johnson has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 6.21%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, Johnson & Johnson's payout ratio is 44%, which means it paid out 44% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, JNJ expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $9.03 per share, with earnings expected to increase 4.03% from the year ago period.

Bottom Line

Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.

High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, JNJ is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).

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